Belladonna Post Chapter Ten (Patreon)

Blood splattered across the floor in one long streak, a scream falling short in a wet cough.  Belladonna tipped her head to the side, a bit of a frown marring her crimson lips. You couldn’t see the carnage on the black flooring. She loved obsidian but it didn’t do well for setting such an example.

Looking at her “guards”, and oh how she hated calling them that, she waved her hand. “Next.”  They came forward, dragging away the decapitated form of some low life vampire trying to still lick Kavatti’s boots long after her demise.  At the same time, another was pushed forward.  “State your grievance.”

Belladonna sat on a velvet lined throne.  A gift from Feebus. It was adorned with the softest plum fabric and lined with black and gold.  The filigree across the arms were lightly etched with pages from several of her favorite books. He must have been working on it for a while.  Big softy that he was.  Belladonna bet he knew she was going to make her move years ago and had been working on it ever since.

The woman that was pushed forward was one that Belladonna had seen before. One of the vampires that lounged around on the bottom levels of the cathedral, half naked and coaxing anyone that came her way towards her chase lounge.  She had several dozen kills under her belt and her fangs were stained pink from blood.

“I am here on behalf of a good measure of us,” the woman began. She had her chin tilted upwards, her long black hair cascading down her back to brush the backs of her knees.  “We have spent quite some time with Baron Kavatti.  She has allowed us to build or business here, supplying us with unlimited blood. What do you plan to do for us?”

Belladonna looked at her, blinking rapidly as if to feign shock. “Nothing.”

It was the end of the sentence. Period.

The vampire stared back at Belladonna, as if waiting for an explanation, but when none came, she began opening and closing her mouth, scrambling for the words that would put her back in the bargaining position.

“So you would see us all die?” she finally sputtered.

“I was operating under the assumption that all of you are perfectly capable of taking care of your own needs. I wasn’t aware that you still needed to be spoon-fed.” She looked around the room at the vampires gathered. The ones that had not come to Kavatti’s aid but instead cowered under their seats down here, hiding until Belladonna made her way downstairs covered in their master's blood.  “What?” she asked them all innocently. “Having problems unlatching from Kavatti’s tit? Well, children, you have a new mommy now. So, either learn how to take care of yourself, or simply wither away into nothingness. I assure you I won’t care either way.”

“How dare you,” the woman hissed.  “You cannot just come in here and–”

When Belladonna stood, she stopped talking. Slowly, Belladonna walked down the marbled steps towards the woman, the lace of her dress leaving her hips and legs exposed with each carefully placed step. Stopping to stand in front of her, Belladonna reached out, sweeping a bit of hair away from the woman's face.

“So very pretty,” Belladonna murmured. “Practically perfection, I might say.  The amount of men and women you must have lured to dark corners. I am sure it is impressive.” Grabbing a fist full of her hair, she yanked the woman's head to the side, her own lips lingering over the long dead pulse point. Her fangs extended, scraping across the quivering column of neck before her.  “Looks are not everything, my dear. In fact, I find when an individual relies on them too heavily, they are nothing more than fodder for the masses. Dispensable, really. Are you something to be thrown out with the trash?” Belladonna lips wrapped around the raised skin, sucking a bruise into the woman's neck.

“No, m’lady.”

Shoving her away, Belladonna looked down at the sprawled figure on the floor. “Then how about you start acting like it, hm?”  Turning to the hushed room, she stared at them all. They were unmoving. Their breaths frozen in her chest.

“From this day forward, there are going to be some rules. You wish to ply your trade? I will not stop you. But, we want a good relationship with the guard. We want to be able to walk the market streets freely. So, death is not on the docket anymore. There will be no second chances under my house. It will be a life for a life.  As of today, I will be dissipating the mists. There will be no more calling the naive into the fog for our pleasure.  You want blood, do it right. You want to cause pain, then find the ones seeking it.  If someone needs to die, you come to me and if I find your cause worthy, we will give you your day of vengeance.  But, no longer do you lot get to run yourself silly in this barren cathedral.  We are creatures of the night living in a world of dark. It is time we start walking the streets again as opposed to hiding among the mists. Understood?”

“Yes, m’lady,” came a chorus from beyond.

She smiled. “Good. Now, as for the ones that simply agreed and will be going off to plan my demise at a later date, please, if you are going to die, eat something sweet beforehand. I find I like the taste of blood a bit more after citrus is consumed.”

Turning, she looked at her guards pointedly.  “Let me know.”

They both nodded.

Climbing the spiral staircase into her now office, Belladonna kicked off her heels.  She walked to the rounded window. The one Kavatti used to stand at, surveying her paltry excuse of a kingdom.  The mists were still present but she had been assured they would be gone by this time tomorrow. Now, she only needed to wait. Wait for the fog to clear. Wait for the bloodshed that would inevitably come to her door. And wait for the Night Market to open its loving arms to her people for the first time in what seemed like forever.

With a pleasant sigh, she began picking up the things that had been Kavatti’s. Trinkets. Pictures. Old artifacts meant to control beauty and youth.  One by one, she chucked them out the window, smiling devilishly as they fell with a crack against the streets below. A new era of the Night Market was underway, and Belladonna planned to be at the helm of it all.